RK CONTEMPORARY No Holds Barred – summer group exhibition
6 December 2020 – 31 January 2021
Riebeek Kasteel
www.rkcontemporary.com

Judy Woodborne, Queen of the Night

NO HOLDS BARRED is being held from the 6th of December to the 31st January at RK Contemporary in Riebeek Kasteel and will be exhibiting, salon-style, a number of established artists alongside emerging ones. Judy Woodborne and Hannalie Taute are two of the artists participating this year and encompass the myriad of talent that will be showcased.

Judy Woodborne is a printmaker and painter, whose work is inspired by a combination of creation mythologies of diverse cultures and her interest in natural science and the nature of matter. Her works immerse you into a fantastical world of rich layers and unexpected fusions, drawing you in with a sense of wonder and curiosity.
She obtained her B.A.F.A from Michaelis School of Fine Art in 1988; an advanced Diploma in Printmaking awarded with Distinction in 1989 and was awarded her Master of Fine Arts Degree with Distinction from UCT in 1993. She currently runs her own printmaking studio, Intagliostudio teaching classes, workshops and curating exhibitions and projects.

Judy Woodborne, Penumbra

Woodborne considers herself to be “a traditional printmaker, working in an experimental manner” and has been described as a “symbolist” – implying that the creative process she employs comprises many layers.
Part of the beauty of Woodborne’s works lies in her different approaches to traditional mediums. The Queen of the Night is a large format paper construction with hand cut paper, linocuts constructed into a three-dimensional paper sculpture. For Dream-catcher, she used a traditional burin and graver on linoleum to engrave the work and the availability of linoleum enabled her to scale it to a larger format size as opposed to the restrictions of a wood-engraving.

Dream Catcher is inspired by the Three Fates of Mankind, represented as sisters Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos from Greek Mythology. Clotho weaves the thread of life into existence, Lachesis measures the length of each thread of life and Atropos severs the mortal thread thus ending the life existence. Woodborne’s Dream Catcher interprets Lachesis as a youthful woman wearing an extended and fanciful wig resembling threads or waves, her hair symbolic of the thread of life.

Woodborne’s works are striking and powerful and become even more so with insight into the symbolism and meaning behind the images.

Judy Woodborne, Dream Catcher

Hannalie Taute (b. 1977) started her life’s journey in a small town called Fochville in Gauteng, South Africa. In 2000, she obtained a National Higher Diploma in Fine Art at PE Technicon (now the NNMU). Nine years ago, she started working with rubber and particularly repurposed rubber inner-tubes, and in 2012 she added embroidery to her list of preferred media.
Perhaps the central theme of Taute’s work is the repeated exploration of identity and relationships within her “paracosmic fantasy”. As the creator of her own detailed, imaginary world, “art is some sort of interesting area where dysfunction is allowed”.

Hannalie Taute with size matters.

Taute’s work is in a constant state of evolution, which mirrors many of the ideas behind her art. Her process is methodical and laborious, and the artwork depicts moments in time – capturing instances in which a non-traditional medium (in this instance, rubber) undergoes a violent process of change. She juxtaposes delicate cotton thread with industrial discarded inner tubes by embroidering items that can decay, such as flowers and flesh, with moments of violent disruption. The coarseness of the rubber is counteracted by the delicacy of the thread, but this is subverted, as often the stitching and composition of the rubber inner tubes are delicate, and the thread seems almost rough in its arrangement. The resulting organized chaos resembles our daily lives and external influences.

This is perhaps most striking in her more recent work, ranging from figurative and hybrid toy-like creatures to a variety of portraits as well as larger floral arrangements embroidered on rubber.

Hannalie Taute, Do Dont, Cotton and acrylic thread and rubber 2020 111 x 90 cm.

Pivotal to Taute’s process is her wish for the medium of the piece to interact with the subject manner in a way that forces the viewer to deeply engage and question the artworks. She aims to create a moment of respite from the chaos while simultaneously illustrating it.

Both artists are locally and nationally acclaimed, different in their mediums yet similar in their impact: thought-provoking, moving, and powerful.

www.rkcontemporary.com   art@rkcontemporary.com   32 Main Street Riebeek Kasteel.